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Prospect Development: Rethink How You Categorize Prospects 

Prospect Development: Rethink How You Categorize Prospects  

Prospect development teams play a vital role in fundraising, evaluating the status of the prospect pipeline and providing key insights that assist with building and segmenting portfolios. Prospect coding systems use data rather than words to tell the story of a donor or prospect’s relationship with your institution. However, the traditional status coding used by many advancement teams – based on the solicitation cycle of identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship – only tells part of the story.   

This solicitation cycle has been around for decades and encourages thoughtful interactions and successful gifts. For all but the most inexperienced fundraisers, it is engrained in the work that we do. But, is it the only story to tell about prospects? After all, is a prospect in cultivation the same as a donor in cultivation? 

Some organizations wisely use the prospect status code to reflect a constituent’s overall philanthropic relationship with the organization, rather than the stage of a singular solicitation.  

By approaching prospect coding in a way that better reflects the nuances and depth of your constituent relationships, your team can create stronger, more balanced portfolios and improve the efficiency of your fundraising engine.  

The Function of Prospect Coding Systems 

Establishing a coding structure in a CRM system and defining the policies and procedures for tracking relationships with constituents is an important role for prospect development. This is not just structure for structure’s sake, or rules for rule’s sake. Coding must be developed to provide critical and accurate insights into the prospect pool, portfolios, and the pipeline.  

Prospect coding includes ratings, proposal stages, and types of actions. Organizations use these codes to identify prospects, make fundraising projections, and assess how gift officers spend their time.  

Most organizations have at least one code to categorize prospects. Systems may utilize different field names, but most often it is called “Prospect Status.” This code serves to segment prospects into broad categories and indicate who is assigned, who could be assigned, and who should not be assigned. Organizations use several designations for prospects in the assigned category, and as mentioned above, that status typically follows the classic solicitation cycle: identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. 

The Limitations of Traditional Prospect Coding  

Tracking the solicitation cycle at the prospect level is problematic. Often this duplicates coding that is also in the system for planned solicitations, or worse yet – creates a justification for not tracking proposals until they are assured. Other questions arise such as, what do you do when there is more than one proposal? When does the status shift from stewardship to re-qualification?  

Another issue is accuracy. Gift officers did not get into the fundraising business because they enjoy data entry. Frequently, GG+A sees clients with inaccurate prospect status codes. The more fields gift officers need to maintain, the less likely they are to be accurate.  

One solution is manual update by administrative or prospect development staff, (which could lead to the fraught dynamic of prospect development being viewed as administrative staff or labeled as the data entry police). Fortunately, more and more organizations are using automation, resulting in more accurate and timely codes. 

The Value of Rethinking Your Prospect Coding System 

Some organizations wisely use the prospect status code to reflect a constituent’s overall philanthropic relationship with the organization, rather than the stage of a singular solicitation.  

“Prospect Status” can be used to represent which prospects are already major or principal gift donors; which are in active consideration of their first major or principal gift; and which are still in the early stages of cultivation. In the following example, the prospect status code for assigned prospects is based solely on proposal history: 

  • Established – Donors with a funded proposal in the last five years 
  • Developing – Prospects with no funded proposals in the last five years but an open or unfunded proposal was created in the last three years 
  • Discovery – Prospects with no funded proposal in the last five years and no unfunded proposal in the last three years 

This approach tells a story about the maturity of a prospect. It provides insight into who is closest to the organization and how much work is required to secure a gift. The composition of these prospect status codes in a portfolio also provides insight into the maturity of a portfolio. Prospect development can assess which portfolios are undeveloped and which are established; and how portfolios have matured over time.  

Prospect development can use portfolio maturity to set standards around portfolios based on the composition of assigned prospects. The ratio of prospects in identification to the number of gifts is high. For this reason, less mature portfolios should be larger than mature portfolios. Portfolio composition can provide insights into when it is time for new prospects and when it is time for cleanup. 

Ultimately, prospect development as a discipline must be about more than just rules; it’s a partnership. Considering capacity and the quantity of significant interactions, prospect development teams can use data to identify trends and opportunities. Further analysis may help uncover who is ready for a proposal plan, who can come out of assignment, and which prospects require deeper engagement. Then, prospect development teams can bring their insights to conversations with gift officers about their portfolios and provide vital partnership in fundraising success.  

It is time to move beyond thinking about prospects in terms of individual asks and explore the depth of your organization’s relationship with its supporters. While gift officers will continue to work the solicitation cycle, prospect development can tell new stories about prospects, portfolios, and the pipeline by coding constituents more meaningfully. 

Sarah Parnum Cadbury, Vice President, is the Executive Director of Prospect Research and Management at Temple University and serves as a key member of GG+A’s Advancement Services Team. She offers extensive expertise in prospect research and management, database customization, metrics, research, and more. For guidance on how to enhance your prospect development strategy, contact Sarah at scadbury@grenzglier.com.  

 

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About the author

Sarah Parnum Cadbury

Vice President

Sarah Parnum Cadbury, Vice President, offers extensive expertise in prospect research and management, database customization, metrics, and proactive and reactive research as an integral member of the Advancement Services Team. Sarah currently serves as the Executive Director of Prospect Research and Management at Temple University. Prior to this role, Sarah…

Full Biography View More Posts

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